Gabriel Ng
Menzies · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“Labor stands for equality of opportunity, and at the heart of equality of opportunity is accessible, universal health care. That's why, from 1 July, we'll deliver over $25 billion in additional funding for public hospitals over five years, including $5.8 billion in Victoria alone for places like Box Hill Hospital, which do so much to supp…”
“Since we cut the maximum cost of PBS medicines to $25—and $7.70 for concession card holders—members of our community have saved over $600,000 at the pharmacy counter. Some of these medicines would have cost patients tens of thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs.”
“Happy financial New Year Eve, as everyone says. Every single day, the Albanese Labor government is focused on making things better for hardworking Australians in my community, in Menzies, and right across the country.”
“From tomorrow, the $20,000 instant asset write-off becomes permanent, helping small businesses right across the country with their cash flow. From tomorrow, paid parental leave reaches a full 26 weeks—six months of support for new parents to be shared amongst them, as they see fit.”
“A couple of weeks ago, I joined the Bulleen-Templestowe Basketball Club at their Big Freeze at the B to raise funds to fight MND. Coaches, clubs, volunteers and, yes, even their local federal MP put their hands up for the ice bucket challenge.”
“The good news is that survival rates have dramatically improved, with over 80 per cent of children surviving with treatment. That progress is a direct result of research, funding and the dedication of clinicians and scientists.”
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“Then, in 1996, a member of this House—Pauline Hanson, in her maiden speech—said Australia was 'in danger of being swamped by Asians,' dredging up tired old colonial fears of a yellow peril. For the first time, I felt there were some in the population, maybe a sizable number, who considered me less Australian because of my race. I am happy to say that we now have a much more reputable member for Oxley. Not long afterwards I learned that the then prime minister, John Howard, had not only failed to denounce Ms Hanson's words but had said similar things himself earlier in his career. This was in stark contrast to other prime ministers I had known. Bob Hawke was a fierce antiracist who spoke out against John Howard's opportunism in favour of the brotherhood of man and compassion over fear.”
“Forty-four per cent of people in Menzies were born overseas, and 68 per cent have at least one parent born overseas. The Chinese Australian community had grown so that those with Chinese ancestry now make up 27 per cent of the electorate, the highest proportion in any electorate nationally. When I was growing up you didn't see many East Asian faces in the street. Still, instances of overt racism were rare. There were occasional slurs in the playground and the time a neighbour suspected my dad of wanting to eat their dog. More pervasive was the question, 'Where are you really from?' or comments like, 'You speak really good English.' While these episodes were significant enough to remember, they weren't much more than annoyances.”
“I saw many people's lives derailed by circumstances outside their control, demonstrating the importance of social safety nets and access to justice to help people get back on their feet. And I joined the Australian Labor Party. When I got older, I moved to other parts of Melbourne, interstate and even overseas. These experiences broadened my horizons but helped me realise where home was. When my wife, Maaya, and I decided to have a family, we moved back to the Menzies area, and in those years it had changed. It still had the same mix of suburbs and bush, but it had grown more diverse. Our established Italian and Greek communities were still there, but we now had the largest Persian community in Australia, a growing Indian community and people from practically every country on Earth.”
“At the risk of carbon dating myself, as a teenager in the nineties, I'd go to Westfield shopping town to get an undercut, find the latest CDs at Sanity and buy jeans which I'd promptly go home and rip, to my parents' dismay. I hung out with my friends in Surrey Hills and Blackburn and played futsal at Box Hill indoor sports centre. It is not a log cabin story! It's been a fortunate life. That good fortune meant I knew I should give something back. I volunteered in an aged-care home, a community legal centre and my community. I became a public servant and worked in migrant and refugee settlement. This helped me appreciate what a gift it is to live in a tolerant, democratic country. It also showed me that it is not enough that government supports be available but that they be accessible to everyone. I became a plaintiff lawyer.”
“Again, were it not for the Whitlam government's commitment to equality of opportunity in providing free university education, she would never have realised her potential. Less wholesome is the fact that they met each other at a disco! But—moving on quickly from that—without Labor they would not have been able to make the contribution to Australia that they have. When my parents brought me home from the hospital, it was to their first house in Doncaster East in what would become Menzies. It was a wonderful area to grow up in—a mix of peaceful suburbs, beautiful parks and bushland. We went to church at St Gregory in Doncaster, learnt to ride our bikes at Banksia Park and walked our dogs by the river in Warrandyte. I would go with my dad to Box Hill to eat noodles and buy ingredients for dinner we couldn't find anywhere else.”
“To this day he still does physically demanding shiftwork and applies himself to keeping up with ever-changing technologies. He has always been frugal and self sacrificing to provide for his family both here and back in Singapore, sending money home for his mother, brothers and sisters, who did not have the opportunities that Australia provides. It was Labor's commitment to antidiscrimination that led the Whitlam government to finish the work begun by the Holt government and finally stamp out the White Australia Policy. This made his migration possible. My mum, Tina, is from regional Victoria and was the first in her family to go to university. She supported herself as a hospital worker, became a lawyer and later in life became a Uniting Church minister.”
“For 65,000 years, it has been the centre of life and creation stories that continue to be nurtured and shared to this day. Menzies is blessed with many culturally significant sites as well as sites of resistance to the devastating impacts of colonialism. The Wurundjeri believe that they are part of the land and the land is part of them. While many of us as more recent arrivals do not have the same unique connection to place, we could learn much in recognising our interconnectedness with and duty of care for the land and natural environment. Without the Labor Party, it is fair to say I wouldn't be here today—not just here in this parliament but here at all. My dad, John, is a Chinese-Singaporean immigrant. He came to Australia in the 1970s as a skilled migrant—a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer.”
“At the last election, our platform reaffirmed our commitment to these fundamental principles. I will be forever grateful that the people of Australia and of Menzies endorsed these values. Social justice and progressivism ask that we engage in truth-telling and reconciliation. I therefore acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waterways on which this parliament sits, the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people. I pay respects to elders past and present and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people here today. I also acknowledge the traditional owners of my electorate of Menzies in Melbourne's east, the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung of the Kulin nation. The northern boundary of Menzies is formed by the Yarra River, or Birrarung in the Woiwurrung language. Birrarung means 'river of mists and shadows'.”
“I'm honoured to stand here as the first ever Labor member for Menzies. I represent a movement I passionately believe in and a community I love, a place I grew up in and have spent most of my life in. I joined the Labor Party because of its unwavering commitment to social justice and progressivism, because I know that only Labor governments have delivered and defended so much of what makes us a more just and kind country. Only Labor introduced Medicare, land rights, antidiscrimination legislation, needs based school funding, the NDIS, collective bargaining and worker protections. Only Labor governs for modern Australia, with all its diversity and promise. We do not bury our heads in the sand as the world changes around us but embrace new challenges and the opportunities they present.”